Comic Book Gems: Lord of the Jungle #1

A comic book gem is a book that sits unnoticed in a 50% off bin…because everyone just wants Chew or Guardians of the Galaxy.

Phil Collins is a man who can sooth the heart of a savage beast…like Bub. We are going to take a look at a little piece of classic literature, keep in mind that I’ve never read the original book (it’s on my bucket list.) Lets look at Lord of the Jungle.

Lord of the Jungle published by Dynamite comics is based around the character Tarzan…no not the Disney version, the original novel. The first issue of the story follows closely with the original novel. Lord Greystroke and his pregnant wife Alice are left to die on a mysterious island by angry people, which we should do more often when we are angry. Skipping ahead John and Alice are living on the island, have the baby and then they both die. This leads up to where most people are familiar with: the classic tale where Jane Porter, Clayton and Mr. Porter arrive on the island and encounter Tarzan. Thus bringing them into all kinds of wacky shenanigans.

Arvid Nelson pays homage to the original title with adding a few extra twists, you can tell Arvid really did his research however instead of a cannibalistic village, it’s actually a tribe of…cannibalistic apes that try to kill everyone. Which really isn’t much better. Wagner Reis doesn’t slack on the art either, you’d think with being thrown onto a reboot of a classic book the art would be terrible. But Wagner really brings out the detail with each page, whether it be the realism of the scenery or the lively faces of the people.

You can pick up Lord of the Jungle in Trade Paper back form in a bind of 6 issues at your local comic shop!